The answer is yes, it will work very well. All you have to do when dying on the skin (which is how I almost always do it with pheasants) is use less heat. You want the dye bath to be between 130 and 150 degrees to dye on the skin. Otherwise, you will damage the skin and the feathers will fall off. Also, don't forget to put some Synthropol (which is best) or clear Ivory unsented dish soap in the dye bath to keep the oils from the skin from impeding the dye. The Synthropol in the dye bath also prevents splotchy and uneven coloration.

Black and purple are easy to dye pheasant on the skin. If you aren't going to use the white ring-neck feathers, remove them (cutting the whole head off is the easiest way) before you dye the skins. I use these small white feathers to dye substitutes for kingfisher and Indian Crow feathers.